Neighborhoods languish through Detroit fiscal ills

Enforcement officer David Moore looks through illegally dumped garbage on Dexter near newly constructed homes in Detroit in late October. Of the $26 million in blight fines levied since 2005, $4.67 million has been collected.

DETROIT (AP) — Four years ago Toni McIlwain’s Ravendale neighborhood on Detroit’s east side was splattered with dozens of vacant and burned out houses and lots strewn with trash and blanketed in waist-high weeds.

Things have changed — for the worse, according to McIlwain who believes Ravendale and other poor areas of Detroit haven’t received enough attention as first-term Mayor Dave Bing struggles to put out fiscal fires elsewhere.

“I can understand some of Bing’s plans,” said McIlwain, chief executive of a nonprofit that operates a community center and education and drug prevention programs. “But even those that are left behind have to feel that their dignity is served.”

As Bing prepares to deliver his fourth State of the City address on Wednesday, some things clearly have not improved. The crime rate is among the highest in the nation, people continue to move out, the tax base still is falling and the budget deficit of just under $300 million nearly mirrors what Bing inherited in 2009.

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A state-appointed review team has until Saturday to deliver its verdict on the state of Detroit’s finances. If the team determines there is a financial emergency, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder could begin the process of placing Detroit under an emergency manager and state oversight.

Even that doesn’t guarantee relief for residents, said John Mogk, a Wayne State University law professor who specializes in land use and urban development issues.

“The role of an emergency manager is to balance the books to bring the fiscal house in order,” Mogk said “It’s a whole separate issue to what’s going on in the neighborhoods. I think any mayor who would have taken office at the time Mayor Bing did would essentially have experienced the same kind of decline in the neighborhoods.”

Mogk said Detroit’s median household income is about $25,000 a year — about half the national median income. Unemployment far surpasses the national average. Most city residents can’t afford improvements to their homes or support small retail.

“Detroit’s economy has not seen an uptick,” Mogk said. “The way you begin to restructure the economy and investment base in the city takes a considerable amount of time.”

The job is massive and Bing could be running out of time. His term ends after 2013 and he has yet to announce whether he will seek another four years in office.

He and other candidates have until May 14 to file petitions to run for mayor. Detroit Medical Center chief executive Mike Duggan and Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon are among a number of people considering a run for Bing’s job.

“The mayor has had to make some tough decisions that have not pleased some folks in the neighborhoods, and more will have to be made to avoid an emergency manager,” Mogk said. “Those negative situations usually result in a part of the population looking for alternative candidates.”

“Everybody appreciates that the mayor is highly respected. Everybody appreciates that the mayor works at the job as hard as anybody else worked at it,” he added. “In his first couple of years he was on a steep learning curve, which may have to some degree hindered his ability to take action that might have helped some people out in the community. Being on a steep learning curve would not have allowed anybody to halt the (city’s) decline.”

Bing’s office declined an interview with The Associated Press in advance of his address. The mayor has warned that limited financial resources would dictate the amount of lighting improvements, blight prevention and other services in less populated parts of the city as his administration moves to strengthen more stable neighborhoods.

The Villages, a historic business district supported by six east side neighborhoods, has experienced a revival of sorts with pop up shops filling a retail niche and some empty storefronts.

In addition to having “stable neighborhoods to draw from,” said Brian Hurttienne, Villages Community Development Corp. executive director, it’s also received some attention from Bing.

Bing “and his staff came over here three times to find out what the neighborhoods need ... lighting, demolitions,” Hurttienne said.

And Bing released details last month on Detroit Future City, a blueprint on how the economy, job creation, neighborhoods and infrastructure can be improved.

The Kresge Foundation will align its grant-making in Detroit with the project, representing at least $150 million in investment over the next five years. Some improvements are expected over that time while transforming the entire city should take 20 to 50 years.

Without an infusion of unforeseen cash, success of the project appears to depend on the generosity and commitment of foundations, businesses and community groups.

Ravendale falls into what the project refers to as an alternative use area where “many people living in these areas would move to a safer, amenity-rich neighborhood if provided the opportunity.”

Eighty-five percent of the people who live there now are below the poverty level, McIlwaine said.

“How do you take a group of residents that don’t have jobs and don’t have credit ... how are they going to move into another area?” she asked. “It’s not like they’re bad people. They live in a bad place and they don’t have the income to go to a better place. Why not make their place better for them, even if it’s just a little bit?”